Larger display, flatter housing: Google presents Pixel 9 Pro Fold (2024)

Google has revealed a poorly kept secret at the "Made by Google" event and unveiled its second foldable smartphone. Like its sibling models presented at the same time, it goes by the name Pixel 9 and is labeled "Pro Fold". Compared to its predecessor, it does a few things differently.

The most striking change is the angular camera module, which now consists of two strips arranged one below the other. Google has made the 9 Pro Fold flatter, narrower and longer than its predecessor (folded: 155.2 × 77.1 × 10.5 vs. 139.7 × 79.5 × 12.1 mm) and also thinner than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 (12.1 mm). The benchmark in this respect, however, remains the flounder-flat Honor Magic V3 (9.3 millimeters when folded, thickness without camera bump). Although Google has successfully put the Fold dieting (257 instead of 283 grams), it remains the heavyweight among foldables. The front and back of the device are protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The housing is also protected against short-term immersion in fresh water in accordance with IPX8, but not against dust.

Large internal screen

An immediately visible difference to the rather hefty Google first model: the 6.3" front display of the 9 Pro Fold has a narrower 20:9 format, which is also used by many non-foldable smartphones. This means there is more space on the screen in terms of height, but less in terms of width. The result: the narrower device is easier to use with one hand when it is folded. When unfolded, an 8-inch, almost square screen unfolds; marginally larger than the inner display of the Honor Magic V3 and noticeably larger than the main screen of the Samsung Fold6.

According to Google, the screens achieve enormous peak brightness levels of up to 2700 cd/m². That would be slightly brighter than the brilliant display of the Fold6, although we were unable to fully verify the manufacturer's specifications in subsequent c't tests. The color-intensive OLED panels achieve a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hertz for a smooth display of scrolling movements or in games that support the high frame rate. According to the data sheet, however, only the inner display can reduce the frame rate to 1 Hertz if required, to save battery power when, for example, only the time is displayed in always-on mode. The external display, on the other hand, which is generally used more frequently in always-on mode, always displays at least 60 Hertz. Both displays achieve dot densities of around 400 dpi.

In terms of SoC, Google skips a generation and switches directly from the Tensor G2 to the fourth generation. The G3 had already outperformed its direct predecessor by 20 to 30 percent in terms of both CPU and GPU performance, but lagged well behind the competition from Apple and Qualcomm. The processor can draw on 16 GB of RAM. The flash memory has a capacity of 256 or 512 GB, depending on the variant, and is not expandable.

The camera hardly changed

While the SoC will probably have sufficient performance reserves for years to come, the runtime of the Fold should be improved. The predecessor's was woefully short, especially under load. When we played a 4K/120fps video on the indoor display, the lights went out after just 6.2 hours. By comparison, the Samsung Fold5 and 6 lasted 11 and 12 hours respectively in this scenario. A mere glance at the data sheet gives little hope: to make the device thinner, Google also had to work on the Foldable's battery. It now has a 4650 mAh battery instead of the 4821 mAh battery in its predecessor. It charges with a maximum of 45 watts using a cable and 15 watts wirelessly on a Qi tray.

The Foldable's cameras are almost unchanged. As usual, Google has fitted the device with five of them, two of which are primarily responsible for selfies and video calls. There is a wide-angle 10-megapixel camera in both the external and internal display. On the back of the smartphone, there are three cameras in the eye-catching strips. The wide-angle 48-megapixel main camera (82°, f/1.7) is complemented by an ultra-wide angle (127°, f/2.2, 10.5 MP) and a telephoto (23°, f/3.1, 10.8 MP). Compared to most high-end smartphones, the Fold's lenses expose smaller sensors. Google uses a 1/2" sensor for the main camera.

The Fold will be launched with Android 14 and not version 15, which Google will roll out at a later date. Google guarantees operating system and security updates for the next seven years. The 256 GByte version of the Fold, which is available to pre-order now, costs 1899 euros; Google charges 2029 euros for double the memory.

(rbr)